Wow, it’s been a really long year. I was diagnosed with breast cancer in February. I completed 5 rounds of egg retrieval, had my tumor removed, was laid off from my federal research contract, had 5 weeks of radiation, got shingles 2x, started 5 years of endocrine therapy, and am now in remission.

My thoughts on the whole dire wolf thing: www.instagram.com/reel/DISYNJP...

Well, here goes everything: I have breast cancer.

My PhD lab is hiring a postdoctoral researcher on bobcat ecology! Great location, project, and community. Highly recommend for those working in quantitative ecology: jobs.rwfm.tamu.edu/view-job/?id...

Y’all I am STRESSED. Just in general. And also specifically.

Brianna Keilar: Do you think that calling Elon Musk a dick is effective messaging? Congressman Robert Garcia: Well, he is a dick.

I think we can all agree the vibes are *not* wonderful. You know what always makes my day better? Getting a cute card in the mail from a friend. I propose that we send valentines this year for vibe enhancement. Skype a Scientist has got *just* the pack. Get 'em at squidfacts.bigcartel.com

I’m a big fan of sharing experiences so others feel less alone. TW: pregnancy loss. I had a missed miscarriage 2 months ago. I was 10 weeks pregnant. I’d just seen feral heart activity 2 weeks prior, so the news that the fetal heart had stopped was a surprise, because I wasn’t bleeding. 1/n

Warren: "He can stand there, smile at you and say, 'anybody can vaccinate their kids who wants to,' but he literally could bankrupt the vaccines manufacturers with the power he will have. And since he's got a financial incentive to do that, we cannot trust him in that job."

I am so so so so so overwhelmed. I know that’s the point, but HB 722- the bill for a national abortion ban- seems likely to make it impossible to get medical care for miscarriages. To be clear, I’m against it all, but as I’m recovering from back-to-back D&Cs for the same miscarriage, I’m scared.

My occasional reminder to folks on tenure and promotion committees that there will be a cohort of people whose early careers were defined entirely by the pandemic and *waves vaguely* this nonsense, and it *will* impact their productivity. It can't not.

Well that “fork in the road” email is really bad.

Last night I got a steam burn on my arm. No blister, just red welts (ouch). I woke up to my darling cat LICKING THE BURN and I’m wondering if I should be concerned??? I washed it, doused it with rubbing alcohol, and covered in neosporin, but cat mouths are gross and I don’t have time for sepsis.

Today and in the coming days, remember

A salute outlawed in Germany AND knowing the voting machines really well? Yikes on a bike.

I recently discovered medieval covers. I have found great joy in my evening kitchen cleanup pretending to be a barkeep wench jamming out to Dark Age classics such as Gangsta’s Paradise, Big Poppa, and Real Slim Shady.

Why have our first female president when we can have the Gulf of America

Three weeks ago, I had a miscarriage. I was 10 weeks pregnant. We are devastated. This is the deepest and most profound sadness I have ever experienced. At our 8 week ultrasound, everything was perfect- we’d started calling baby-to-be our little pollywog. We are mourning this lost love.

Can someone explain the end piece to me? The installer added it to cover the end of the stair treads. Says it’s done as is. Looks terrible.

I am really going thru it right now. Not ready to discuss, but please send good karma, cast a spell, boop an animal, call your favorite person. I need all the good vibes I can get.

Where are we on citing preprints in manuscripts? This seems like an odd thing to me, particularly if the work is based on something that hasn’t gone thru peer-review.

Now why did I ask my husband “is it snowing outside?” as if there was alternative location for the weather?

Check out our latest OA paper on wolf population genetics and effective population size! @lperezsorribes onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10....

Watched the Martha Stewart doc tonight. I gotta say, what a boss.

All things considered, some good things, lately.

THESE APPOINTMENTS ARE SO BAD

Terrifying news out of Russia: their people can no longer publicly talk about being child-free. It’s been declared “child-free propaganda” and there is a fine. Whether you have kids or not, this should concern you, especially as the orange guy LOVES their leader.

Wow this website is like the old place before it was ruined

Me and @natickbobcat.bsky.social are two peas in a pod, or two cats in a pack, if you will

Any interior designers out there willing to help me out? Our new living room has a weird layout. I have no idea what to do! Issues: the blue carpet is covering subfloor (can change but no wood floor beneath), unsure how to make 2 spaces feel like one (builtins?), wtf do I do with tv, wall color? 1/2

I'm so excited to share our range-wide paper on #snowleopard phylogeography & population structure! Representing my PhD work & using the largest sample size & geographic coverage to date, our work fills important knowledge gaps on snow leopard gene flow: rdcu.be/dWNKj 🦊 🧬🧪

Ok y’all I finally tried buldak ramen and it is GOOD

Snow Leopards expanded from a single, glacial refugia and exhibit population structure between North and West central Asia according to @biologistimogene.bsky.social & colleagues. The authors suggest conservation efforts should prioritize maintaining habitat connectivity between the two populations.

Y’all I hate coding. So much. The simplest bugs remain the biggest boons of my life.

Bringing back this classic from @blackmudpuppy.bsky.social

I’ve held onto my Twitter account in hopes the momentum I gained there might return to usefulness someday, but with the election, it’s obvious that space serves no purpose. I’m torn between hanging on so rational voices are heard, and GTFO for my own mental health.

Guess it’s time be fully engaged here.

What’s your social media strategy?

I made four loaves of sourdough this weekend. Best three in order: garlic and morel-infused cheese; plain sourdough, and brown sugar cinnamon. Proofing a fifth one now to be rolled with garlic and blue cheese olives. I can’t stop!

How I landed on bluesky

Our paper has been in review since December 2023. It has received two rounds of reviews at the same journal. Both times they requested VERY minor revisions. It appears the editor has sent it to a reviewer for a third time. What is my recourse here?

Anyone here had Botox for migraines?

Your campaign slogan is your last name and the last text you sent CANCELLARE: Dreams do die

Last night I met someone whose mom was struck by lightning. My father was also struck by lightning! We were standing under a park pergola while it was storming. I joked “well I guess we shouldn’t stand together” and everyone laughed nervously and backed up a bit.

Picked so many huckleberries this week, and gonna pick more tomorrow!

Do you like my octopus drawing says local artist horseshoe crab.

I just told the most southern backwoods plumber/construction guy you can ever imagine that I wrote romance novels and he replied, "that's good, we need people to write stories that ease the heart" WHAT IS HAPPENING OUT HERE DID TIM WALZ RESET THE TIMELINE AGAIN

My office mate doesn’t mind that I brought tuna salad for lunch

Y’all I’m a bit stressed out starting this new job and I’ve managed to avoid the gym for a year and I bought a membership and went today and lifted and I may not walk tomorrow and idk about my stress levels but I may cry tomorrow anyway because GLUTES.